# Using Glue with Claude

Once connected, Claude can search your threads, read full transcripts with attribution, and answer questions grounded in your team's actual conversations — without leaving the AI client you're already using.

{% hint style="info" %}
**New to MCP?** Model Context Protocol is an open standard that gives AI assistants a uniform way to read external data and use external tools. The Glue MCP server is the bridge that lets Claude (and similar clients) access your Glue threads on your behalf.
{% endhint %}

The Glue MCP server is currently in **design-partner preview**. Read-only for now — write tools (create thread, send message) are coming soon.

#### How it works

When you connect Claude to the Glue MCP server, Claude gains five read-only tools:

* **Search your threads** by topic, time range, or recipient
* **Read full thread transcripts** with per-message attribution
* **Look up users and groups** in your workspace

You authenticate once with OAuth, scoped to your own Glue user. Every tool call respects the thread permissions you already have in Glue — Claude can only see what you can see.

{% hint style="success" %}
**Pro tip:** Ask Claude to summarize a long thread before you scroll through it yourself. *"Summarize the planning thread from last week"* is faster than reading top to bottom, and Claude will link you back to the exact messages it pulled from.
{% endhint %}

#### Setting up the Glue MCP server

The Glue MCP server runs at:

```
https://mcp.glue.ai/mcp
```

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Claude Desktop" %}

<details>

<summary>Step 1 — Open Connector settings</summary>

In Claude Desktop, open **Settings → Connectors**.

</details>

<details>

<summary>Step 2 — Add the Glue MCP server</summary>

Click **Add custom connector** and paste the server URL:

```
https://mcp.staging.glue.ai/mcp
```

Click **Add**.

</details>

<details>

<summary>Step 3 — Authorize Glue</summary>

Claude opens the Glue consent screen in your browser. Review what's being requested (read access to your threads, users, and groups) and click **Allow**.

{% hint style="warning" %}
In current Claude releases, the browser tab sometimes doesn't auto-close after you authorize. The connection still works — just switch back to Claude manually.
{% endhint %}

</details>

<details>

<summary>Step 4 — Try it</summary>

In a new Claude conversation, ask: *"Use Glue to summarize the most recent project thread I've been on."* Claude will call the Glue MCP tools and answer with links back to the source thread.

</details>
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Claude.ai (web)" %}

<details>

<summary>Step 1 — Open Connector settings</summary>

Open the profile menu in the top right, then go to **Settings → Connectors**.

</details>

<details>

<summary>Step 2 — Add the Glue MCP server</summary>

Click **Add custom connector**, paste the server URL, and click **Add**:

```
https://mcp.glue.ai/mcp
```

</details>

<details>

<summary>Step 3 — Authorize Glue</summary>

Sign in to Glue when prompted and click **Allow** to grant Claude read access to your threads, users, and groups.

</details>

<details>

<summary>Step 4 — Try it</summary>

Start a new conversation and try a prompt like *"In Glue, what did we decide about \[topic] in the \[thread name] thread?"*

</details>

{% hint style="info" %}
If you don't see **Add custom connector** in your settings, your Claude workspace may have custom connectors restricted to admins. Ask your admin to add Glue at the workspace level, or install it on your personal Claude account.
{% endhint %}
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Workspace admin install" %}
To make Glue available to everyone in your Claude workspace:

<details>

<summary>Step 1 — Open Workspace settings</summary>

Sign in as a Claude workspace admin and go to **Workspace settings → Connectors**.

</details>

<details>

<summary>Step 2 — Add the connector</summary>

Click **Add custom connector** and paste the Glue MCP server URL.

</details>

<details>

<summary>Step 3 — Save</summary>

{% hint style="warning" %}
Make sure to click **Add** at the end of the dialog. It's easy to half-complete the flow and not realize the connector wasn't saved. If team members report Glue isn't appearing in their connector list, the most common cause is an unsaved admin install.
{% endhint %}

</details>

Each team member still authenticates individually via OAuth — admin install just makes the connector *available* for them to connect.
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Other MCP clients" %}
The Glue MCP server is standard MCP. We've tested it working with:

* **Claude Desktop** (Mac and Windows)
* **Claude.ai** (web)
* **Claude API and Claude Code**
* **The MCP test client** at [mcpplaygroundonline.com](https://mcpplaygroundonline.com/mcp-test-client)

For any other MCP client, the pattern is the same: paste the server URL, complete the OAuth flow, and the Glue tools become available.

{% hint style="info" %}
**ChatGPT custom connectors** work in theory, but OpenAI requires admin-enabled "developer mode" and the setting location varies by ChatGPT release. We've seen flakiness on OpenAI's side during testing.
{% endhint %}
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

#### What you can ask Claude

Once Glue is connected, you can ask questions like:

* *"Summarize the last week of the Q2 roadmap thread."*
* *"What did we decide about API rate limits in the infrastructure thread?"*
* *"Find every thread where we discussed authentication and tell me where things landed."*
* *"Pull the thread Sadia and I were debating last Friday and give me the three open questions."*
* *"What groups am I in?"*

Claude returns answers with attribution and links back to the source messages in Glue.

{% hint style="success" %}
**Pro tip:** If Claude seems unsure who you are, paste your Glue user ID once at the start of the conversation. Claude can identify the connected user automatically, but explicit instruction never hurts.
{% endhint %}

#### Limitations

{% hint style="warning" %}
The Glue MCP server is in design-partner preview. Expect some limitations, specifically:

* **Read-only.** Write tools (`create_thread`, `send_message`) are not yet available.
* **Search caps at 50 results.** Broad queries in large workspaces may truncate.
* **Activity-ranked sorting is not supported.** Coming soon.
* **No real-time subscriptions.** Reading a thread reflects its current state; there's no change feed yet.
* **Enterprise SSO is not yet supported.** Currently under investigation.
{% endhint %}

**Coming soon**

We're working on the following next:

* **Write tools** — `create_thread` and `send_message` so Claude can take action on your behalf
* **Activity metrics on threads** — message count and latest-message timestamp, so activity-ranked queries work
* **Listing in Claude's connector directory** — so you can install Glue without pasting a custom URL
* **Per-connector scope controls** — so you can grant Claude access to a subset of your workspaces rather than everything you see

Stay tuned as we continue to enhance Glue's MCP server!

#### Troubleshooting

<details>

<summary>Claude says it can't find Glue</summary>

Nine times out of ten, the OAuth flow didn't fully complete, or an admin who installed Glue at the workspace level didn't click the final **Add** button.

Open Claude → **Settings → Connectors**. If Glue isn't listed, re-add the connector and walk through the OAuth flow end to end.

</details>

<details>

<summary>The browser tab didn't auto-close after I authorized</summary>

Known Claude-side issue, reproducible with other MCP servers too. The connection has still worked — just switch back to your Claude window manually. Glue should now show as connected.

</details>

<details>

<summary>Claude says "authentication required" even after I authorized</summary>

Most likely the token expired or the grant was revoked. Disconnect Glue from Claude's connector settings and re-add it. If that doesn't help, check **Glue → Settings → Authorized Apps** to make sure Claude is still listed.

</details>

<details>

<summary>Claude returned a thread but it's the wrong one</summary>

Search ranks by relevance to your query. If multiple threads share similar subjects, Claude may pick the wrong candidate. Try:

* Including a person or time range: *"the planning thread Sadia and I were on last week"*
* Asking Claude to list candidates first: *"Show me the threads matching X, then ask me which one"*

</details>

<details>

<summary>Claude says it can't find an answer that I know is in the thread</summary>

A few possibilities:

* The answer is further back in the thread than Claude paged. Ask: *"Keep paging — it's older than that."*
* Search returned a different thread than the one you meant. Name the thread explicitly.
* The answer is implied rather than stated. Claude is conservative on read — it prefers *"I don't see an explicit answer"* over inference. This is a feature for trust, but it sometimes means you need to ask more directly.

</details>

<details>

<summary>Claude appears to be making things up</summary>

This is the failure mode we care about most. Please flag any examples via <support@glue.ai> or in the *MCP Server Feedback* thread, with the prompt, Claude's response, and the thread URL Claude cited (or didn't). We'll investigate.

</details>

<details>

<summary>I want to revoke Claude's access immediately</summary>

In Glue, go to **Settings → Authorized Apps → Claude → Revoke**. This invalidates the OAuth tokens server-side. For belt-and-suspenders, also disconnect Glue from Claude's connector settings.

</details>

#### Privacy and access

Claude only sees Glue threads that your authenticated user can already see — the MCP server enforces the same permissions as the Glue UI. There is no admin-mode bypass.

If you want Claude limited to a subset of your workspaces, the current workaround is to authenticate with a Glue user whose access is already scoped. Per-connector scope controls are on the roadmap.

For technical details on authentication and tool schemas, see the [Glue Developers](https://docs.glue.ai/developers/) section.